What is the best book you have ever read and why?
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Anonymous
Good answer. There's a lot to be learned from these books, about life and society and relationships and writing. |
Anonymous
| Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro. |
Anonymous
I have to agree with this!! Personally, I will always say Pride and Prejudice followed by the controversial Gone with the Wind, both of which I read in middle school. Still love Austen for her insights into societal expectations on women and moving within those confines and sorry, still love GWTW for the amazing characters and story that you can almost see in front of you. I haven't reread GWTW in the past 15 years, but I am sure there would be more problematic aspects that I didn't notice. Obviously it was a book of its time, not sure how people will continue to look at that in the future. More recent reads that I love are Emily St. John Mandel books which are definitely a certain taste, Marilynne Robinson books which are very dense and contemplative, Americanah and the Neapolitan Novels. |
Anonymous
Crossing to Safety really shocked me at the end. I disliked it so much but the end rang so true. Definitely one I didn't expect and will not forget. |
Anonymous
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Passage by Connie Willis.
It's about dying and the last part of the book has always stayed with me. I think about it often, and that doesn't happen to me with many books I've read as an adult being that memorable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passage_(Willis_novel) |
Anonymous
Not my favorite but unlike any book I’ve ever read. Simply haunting. |
Anonymous
| Pride and Prejudice. I just love it so much and re-read it every November. Other favs are Rebecca, The Goldfinch, Peony in Love, and The Road. For short stories, anything by Alice Munroe. |
Anonymous
Another "not my fav" but to be honest I loved that book more that all of the ones mentioned so far. I think about the boy who was easily frustrated often. Gentleman in Moscow must have been way too hyped up for me because it was enjoyable and written well but I wasn't as taken as most. I suspect low or high expectations make a big difference. |
Anonymous
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lonesome dove
it's heavy - like 800 pages - but the character development is amazing and the ending just SAT with me for days and days |
Anonymous
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I love epics like Lonesome Dove, Gone with the Wind, 100 Years of Solitude, Pachinko and Cutting for Stone.
Stories that have stuck with me: Demon Copperhead, The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver, and going back further A Moveable Feast. Fascinating. |
Anonymous
| Cold Comfort Farm |
Anonymous
Klara and the Sun also haunts me too. |
Anonymous
Same. I love being swept away by a story, particularly one that covers many years or decades. |
Anonymous
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Our Mutual Friend. It's a lesser known Dickens novel but it's a favorite among Dickens fans.
OMF is centered around the heir to a fortune made in dust whose body was found in the Thames and follows all the character impacted by this fortune. It's a brilliant satiric take on money, class and respectability, and has many memorable characters. I love this novel and can read it again and again. |
Anonymous
Thank you |